فنون لطيفہ
English title: FINE ARTS
اے اہل نظر ذوق نظر خوب ہے ليکنجو شے کي حقيقت کو نہ ديکھے ، وہ نظر کيا
Zest for sight, no doubt, is true O men endowed with art and tact, what aim or goal such sight can serve which fails to see the inmost part?
مقصود ہنر سوز حيات ابدي ہےيہ ايک نفس يا دو نفس مثل شرر کيا
The aim of heart is to infuse eternal glow in human hearts: What is the use of warmth that, like a spark, expires and soon departs?
جس سے دل دريا متلاطم نہيں ہوتااے قطرئہ نيساں وہ صدف کيا ، وہ گہر کيا
O vernal drop, what is the worth of mother-shell and such pearl, if truth can not defeat untruth and river does not swell and swirl?
شاعر کي نوا ہو کہ مغني کا نفس ہوجس سے چمن افسردہ ہو وہ باد سحر کيا
It may be poet's verse or song, or breath of one who plays on reed what does that morning breeze avail if stead of freshness sear it breed?
بے معجزہ دنيا ميں ابھرتي نہيں قوميں!جو ضرب کليمي نہيں رکھتا وہ ہنر کيا
Without the aid of wondrous acts no nation ever can advance: An art that has no Hoses' Rod a people's status can't enhance.
Sources and translator credits
- Original text transcription: Zarb-e-Kalim — فنون لطيفہ — Digital transcription file at commit 39d44fc0c2b8ca25769c4b36e6eac4d90cb42b35; the source dataset does not identify the underlying print edition.Verified against this pinned digital transcription file; not checked against a print edition.Source
- Iqbal Demystified source list: Zarb-e-Kalim — Pinned digital dataset commit 39d44fc0c2b8ca25769c4b36e6eac4d90cb42b35; the underlying print edition is not identified by the dataset.Community dataset list; not reconciled against a print edition.Source
- Zarb-e-Kalim English translation at allama-iqbal.com — Fine Arts — Public digital poem page, retrieved 2026-10-06; pinned to allama-iqbal.com commit 82547635bb6b758c45082084b2f152fc453a8056.Translation by Syed Akbar Ali Shah; English Translation by: Syed Akbar Ali ShahSource